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2012 election: Youth turnout on par with 2008; activists aim to keep college students engaged

New Era Colorado hoping to get laws passed to make voting even easier for young people

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
11/08/2012 09:06:19 PM MST

Updated:
11/08/2012 09:24:12 PM MST

Early estimates show that the national turnout of young voters -- a demographic that was loyal to Democrats in key swing states -- could have been 51 percent in this year's election, comparable with the historic 2008 turnout rate.

And New Era Colorado, a youthful civic group started by Steve Fenberg, a University of Colorado graduate, plans to lobby the state Legislature this year for bills that could make voting even easier for young people -- perhaps allowing them to pre-register at age 16 when they're getting their drivers' licenses so they can vote as soon as they are 18.

Fenberg said the group also would like there to be options for people to change their voter registration on Election Day at the polls, something that would benefit nomadic college students.

Political experts had predicted there would be a precipitous drop-off in young voter participation after 2008, when the youth were particularly enthused during the race between Barack Obama and John McCain.

"Frankly, even those of us who work to get out the vote thought that 2008 might be the high-water mark," Fenberg said.

But it's looking like a 50 percent youth voter turnout rate is the new norm, making the 18-to-29-year-old demographic a powerful voting bloc, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE.

U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that just 37 percent of the youth turned out to vote in 1996, and 41 percent in 2000.

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"Confounding almost all predictions, the youth vote held up in 2012 and yet again was the deciding factor in determining which candidate was elected President of the United States," CIRCLE director Peter Levine said in a news release. "Young people are energized and committed voters."

Levine said there are 46 million people between 18 and 29, so the youth bloc is an important one in deciding elections. Research from CIRCLE found that in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia that if Romney had won half the youth vote, he would have won those battleground states.

Young voters represented 19 percent of the voters in this year's election.

"Right now, they form a key part of the Democrats' national coalition," Levine said. "Republicans must find a way to compete for their votes."

At CU, the early voting site at the University Club was open from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. During those five days, 3,901 people voted, according to Brad Turner, spokesman for the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder's Office. The total number of people who voted at the county's six early voting sites was 17,973.

The biggest rush at the University Club was on the final two days -- 831 on the Thursday and 1,277 on the Friday, the day after Obama spoke to a crowd at the Coors Events Center.

In student-heavy voting precincts with polling places on campus, turnout was high. For example, 87 percent of the 849 registered voters in the Williams Village precinct turned out to vote. At Libby Hall, 87 percent of the 834 active, registered voters turned out. Turnout at the University Club was 89 percent, according to Turner.

Turner said 27,112 under-30 voters requested a mail ballot for the general election and about 80 percent voted their mail ballot.

At CU, civic groups like New Era and the Colorado chapter of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group had volunteers saturating the campus to make sure students registered to vote and cast their ballots.

Fenberg dressed up like Scooby Doo on Halloween and, along with others from New Era, went door-to-door for a "trick-or-vote event."

The group also used social media and text messages to connect with voters.

Fenberg said Obama's three visits to the CU campus between April and October also helped enthuse young voters.

"They had the opportunity to see a president actively and aggressively courting their votes," Fenberg said. "I think they felt like their votes really mattered."

Lisa Ritland, CoPIRG's New Voters Project organizing director, said that despite months of hand-wringing about a supposed young voter enthusiasm gap, results are showing that young people are willing to engage in the democratic voting process -- especially if encouraged.

The group's New Voters Project had student volunteers calling other CU students all the way up to 6:50 p.m. on Election Day to make sure they knew which polling place to go to before the polls closed.

"Young people are just like any other voter," Ritland said. "When you pay attention to them, they will show up on Election Day."

Courtney Benejam, 22, a CU junior majoring in integrative physiology, said she voted in her first presidential election this year and cast her ballot for Romney.

She said she felt motivated to vote because it was expected to be such a close election. And, she said, the get-out-the-vote efforts were certainly noticeable -- her friends came up with strategies for avoiding all the people who asked if they had voted by pretending to be on the phone or putting on headphones.

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